Contributing Factors to the Prevalence of Student Truancy among Community Secondary Schools in Tanzania: A Case Study of Schools in Mbeya Districts

Simwaba, Joseph Lusekelo (2013) Contributing Factors to the Prevalence of Student Truancy among Community Secondary Schools in Tanzania: A Case Study of Schools in Mbeya Districts. Masters thesis, The Open University of Tanzania.

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Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the contributing factors to the prevalence of student truancy in community secondary schools in Tanzania. Descriptive survey design was undertaken with a sample of 166 respondents. Research tools employed to obtain information include questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions and documentary review. The study has found that student truancy is prevalent in all Mbeya community secondary schools irrespective of whether they are located in urban or rural areas. The magnitude of the problem of truancy was at a high rate. Students of both sexes are engaged in truancy. The family efforts in reducing student truancy were fairly low. Significant casual factors to student truancy were identified to be family factors such as parental poverty, parental indulgence in alcoholism, parental unawareness of the importance of students’ school attendance etc. School factors are unsupportive school environment, excessive corporal punishment, lack of school fence etc. Student factors include:-orphanage, browsing internet and playing pool game etc .Economic factors include:- child labour,failure to pay school fees and small business.. Moreover, truancy has shown to have negative consequences to truant students including poor academic performance, indulgence in criminal behaviour and school dropout. The study found a number of possible approaches which schools could adopt to reduce truant behaviour in community secondary schools such as avoiding frequent expulsion, rewarding students, using participatory teaching method, families’ collaboration with school, improving school environment etc. It was recommended that schools, community and government should work together to improve school environment. Schools should also establish effective home-school communications. Moreover schools should continue to learn from experience of others

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